“Get The F*** Out Of Here”: The Heated Rivalry Cast Have Addressed Toxic Fans With A Pointed Statement

Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and François Arnaud have taken to social media to condemn online hate comments from their fandom, posting simultaneously on Instagram.

“Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist/homophobic/biphobic/misogynist/ageist/ableist/parasocial/bigoted comments of any kind,” read their posts. “None of us need your hateful ‘love.’”

The statement continued, “We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side. If you can’t accept that gtfoh (get the fuck out of here).”

Their posts come after the both the meteoric success of the Heated Rivalry TV series, in which Williams plays Shane Hollander, and Arnaud playing the character of Scott Hunter, and an increase in absolutely deranged online “fan” behaviour. The romance series follows a series of closeted queer hockey players who eventually come out after falling in love.

Williams, who has Korean heritage, has been the target of racist comments from sections of the fandom, with entire X (Twitter) accounts dedicated to posting hate and negativity about him. Early on he was criticised and bullied into revealing whether he himself is queer, with subsequent rumours that he was dating a woman leading to death threats online.

Indirectly referencing this online racism during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, Williams did say that he only respects the opinions of people who have a “developed frontal cortex.”

Meanwhile, Arnaud a proud and out bisexual has not only had to deal with with sprees of biphobia, but also, bafflingly for someone so hot, ageism, with the term “hag” often used by his haters. Why? Because credible rumours began to swirl that the 40-year-old Arnaud may be dating 25-year-old breakout star Connor Storrie (who plays Ilya Rozanov). Such is the parasocial entitlement that some Heated Rivalry fans feel towards these actors and their fictional character, Arnaud has been bombarded with death threats, and called a “groomer” and a “creepy pedo”.

As an example of the nonsense logic behind these attacks, one X user publicly wrote: “The 40-year-old actor who is trying to take advantage of Connor keeps invading Connor’s private life and throwing shade at Haddon, and has alienated the friendship between the two main actors of HR who, until 3 weeks ago, were very close friends and were always together.”

Arnaud even briefly unfollowed his castmates and blocked Twitter from his phone, telling Men’s Health “I don’t want to know what people are saying in that cesspool.”

Unfortunately their plea doesn’t seem to have penetrated, with fans immediately accusing Arnaud of “copying” Williams’ message, despite the fact they posted simultaneously.

“It was Francois’ idea and I helped write it! I don’t scroll comments so I did not see the hate. I was vibing watching figure skating highlights,” Williams responded in the comments. Arnaud has also been responding to comments on Instagram posts including one on a recent post that read, “racists and haters of all kinds gtfoh.”